Close Encounters of the Drool Kind: 10/01/2009

The Fred started looking for her Halloween costume beginning in August this year. She was determined to peruse every magazine that arrived in our mailbox in search of the perfect frock. Eventually, the Pottery Barn magazine showed up, and she was instantly smitten with the peacock costume. Unfortunately, MommaDrool was not smitten with the price tag...tutu + felt + shirt does not = $70...pulleez! It was one of those "this looks like a job for MommaDrool" moments.

I am going to share the love on this one because it was a no-sew project that could easily be used for several different costumes...bumblebee, ladybug, butterfly, angel, princess, fairy...you get the picture. In the end, I probably saved about $30...$40 if you include the cost of shipping. FYI, I bought all of my materials at Garden Ridge, Michael's, Hancock Fabrics, and a local dancewear store. If you can find the colors that you are looking for, I highly recommend buying your tulle by the roll...it is much easier to work with since you only have to cut for length, not width. I was able to find tulle by the roll in the wedding section at Michael's...just not any that was blue or green. The quantity of materials is what you will need to make a size 6 costume. So here goes...

Materials:
1 Body Wrapper long sleeve and long tight solid color unitard ($20)
regular white elastic, 1/2 to 1-inch width
3 yards grass green tulle (99 cents/yard= about $3) OR 1 roll of 6-inch grass green tulle ($3)
3 yards royal blue tulle (99 cents/yard= about $3) OR 1 roll of 6-inch royal blue tulle ($3)
1- 12x18 inch piece pale blue stiff felt ($1)
1- 12x18 inch piece grass green stiff felt ($1)
1- 12x18 inch piece dark blue stiff felt ($1)
10- green and/or blue eyelets ($2)
3 yard roll sheer 2-inch pale aqua ribbon ($1.50)
3 yard roll sheer 2-inch turquoise ribbon ($1.50)
3 yard roll regular 3/8-inch turquoise ribbon ($1.50)
3 yard roll regular 3/8-inch pale blue ribbon ($1.50)
Fabri-Tac fabric glue (any instant bond clear fabric glue will work) ($2)
1 peacock feather Christmas ornament with clip attached ($2 at Garden Ridge)

Directions:
1) Measure the child around the waist, just below the belly button. Take that measurement and subtract 1 inch. Cut a piece of elastic to that number of inches. This will give you enough length to knot the elastic and a fit that is snug enough to prevent the skirt from slipping down.

2) Take your piece of elastic and knot the ends together so that you form the waistband. Don't worry about what your knot looks like since it will be covered with tulle. Try the elastic on the child to make sure that you have a snug fit.

3) Measure your child from the waist to the desired length for your skirt. Take the number of inches and double that number. This is the length that you will need to cut your strips of tulle.

4) Cut your tulle into strips that are 6 inches wide and the length that you determined in the previous step. If you are using rolls of tulle, you won't have to cut to a 6-inch width, only cut to length from the roll. Continue cutting strips until you have used all of the tulle.

5) From your two rolls of 2-inch sheer ribbon, cut strips that are the same length as your tulle. Continue cutting strips until you have used all of the sheer ribbon.

6) Now, you are ready to begin attaching the strips to our skirt. You will alternate attaching the strips (one green tulle, one sheer pale aqua ribbon, one blue tulle, one sheer turquoise) repeating the sequence until you have used all of the strips. The strips are attached to the elastic using a Lark's Head knot. Below is a picture that shows you how to make the knot. As you attach the strips, be sure not to pull them tight. This will stretch the elastic and make them difficult to rearrange. Once all of the strips have been attached and are equidistant, pull all of them tight. (The other picture below gives a close-up of what the waistband looks like on the completed project.)

7) Once you have finished the skirt, it is time to create your peacock "feathers" from the felt. I created a template in photoshop for my feathers, and cut my felt from the pattern pieces. The larger teardrop was used with the green felt, smaller teardrop with the pale blue felt, and the circle with the dark blue felt. Cut 9 pieces of each shape.

8) After you have cut all of the pieces of the felt, attach the eyelets at the center near the edge of the rounded side of the large green felt teardrops. Now, you can glue the pale blue and dark blue felt pieces on top of the green felt using the fabric glue.

9) Measure the child from the waist to where you would like the feathers to hang. Take this measurement and double that number. Cut 5 strips to this length from one of your 3/8-inch ribbons, and cut 4 strips to this length from your other 3/8-inch ribbon.

10) You will attach this ribbon in the same way that you attached the tulle, but you want one side of the ribbon that hangs down to be about 2 inches lower than the other side. The lower side will be the one that you tie the felt "feathers" onto. Evenly space the ribbon, alternating colors, as you attach it between the tulle. For my skirt, they were evenly spaced if I attached a ribbon every 4 knots. I found it easiest to start at the front center of the skirt. That way you can attach one to the left followed by one to the right and move out from there.

11) Once you have attached all 9 pieces of ribbon, you can attach the felt "feathers." Take the side of the ribbon that hangs down lower than the other and thread that piece of ribbon through the eyelet from the back side. Tie a basic knot and pull the end so that it lays flat against the back side of the felt.

12) For the hairpiece, I did nothing more than attach the feather ornament by the clip to a simple hair tie. Although, the clip could also be attached to a simple aqua elastic head band. Another idea would be to use any left over felt and ribbon to make a peacock headband.

*Since I didn't mention this before, this is the same way that you would create a simple tutu, and it is much easier to find colors like pink and white in rolls of tulle. I made one for The Fred for ballet, but they are so much fun for just dress-up too! Just follow steps 1-4, using a shorter length for the tutu, and attach your tulle using the Lark's Head knot. Just an FYI, with smaller strips of tulle, your tutu will stand out further...thus, making it shorter. Be sure to take this into consideration when cutting the length of your tulle. Enjoy!